Mr. Kim Strikes It Rich with Auto-Hunting [Novel] Chapter 50

“Shall we check out AwakenedNet now?”

“Goody!”

[Taking crafting commissions.]

A day had passed since Hajun posted on AwakenedNet.

By now, most people interested would have sent their offers.

Time to check.

[AwakenedNet]

[Unread Notifications: 259]

Hm?

Two hundred and fifty-nine?

Why were there so many?

That made no sense…

Tipping his head curiously, Hajun skimmed through the list.

“Ugh… why are so many people just throwing out random shots in the dark?”

He had clearly stated the condition: materials from Floor 61 or higher.

Yet what was this…?

Some offered materials from the 30th floor.

Wait.

This one was from the 21st floor.

A total mess.

Nope, not buying it.

Rejected, across the board.

[Rejected]

[Rejected]

[Rejected]

……

…

Clicking through repeatedly, Hajun paused.

“What’s this? China?”

[Client: Central Awakened Management Bureau (China)]

They really were something else.

To think they actually submitted a request.

Just as Todd had mentioned:

“A few nations, or at least China’s top brass, probably have a rough guess that you’re the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, Director.”

Hm.

Then they ought to know he wouldn’t accept.

Or maybe not.

Perhaps they were still in the dark.

Regardless, rejected.

Personal feelings definitely played a part, but even without that grudge, their request wouldn’t have passed muster.

Did they think this was a dollar store?

The materials were indeed from Floor 61, but they hadn’t doubled the required amount as instructed.

Besides, the rest was just a hodgepodge of odds and ends, with magic stones randomly mixed between high-grade and low-grade…

“Looks like they scraped out the very bottom of their warehouse,” Todd remarked.

“Sure seems like it.”

Yep.

Still not accepting.

Especially since it was China, absolutely not.

Immediate dismissal for them.

All right, cleaning done.

Let’s see what was left.

[Ralph Carter (USA)]

[Arthur Brandt (UK)]

[Lucas Wolf (Germany)]

[James Moore (USA)]

Exactly four.

“Whoa, look at the quantities they put up…”

Rankers truly were on another level.

Yes.

This was how it should be done.

Way too many people lacked a conscience.

Rani’s items were absurdly overpowered, and on top of that?

She was crafting them without charging a single cent!

“Well… Director, paying twice the required materials is overwhelmingly more expensive than paying cash,” Todd pointed out.

“Rani, Todd says he wants to go on an airplane ride.”

“Huh? Yay! Teddy bear fly!”

“Aaargh—”

Why did Todd always have to be so technically correct…?

Hm.

Looking at the list, the United States had put in two requests.

James Moore?

Hajun hadn’t heard the name before.

Searching it up, the profile appeared.

Currently climbing the 62nd floor.

“Wow… the US has two people above Floor 61.”

Was this the sheer might of America?

Well, whatever.

The crucial factor was the type and quantity of materials.

Let’s see…

“As expected, Ralph Carter looks like the best bet.”

Number ones really were built different.

Lee Bojun had been the same back then, and Ralph Carter, the world’s number one, was just as generous.

While other rankers offered around two to two and a half times the materials at best, Ralph had gone all out.

——-

[Crafting Commission]

Client: Ralph Carter (USA)

Requested Item: Two-Handed Battleaxe

Primary Material: 60 Giant Sand Worm’s Teeth

——-

Though Rani’s standards differed, there was a generally accepted baseline for primary materials.

For example:

Ten for a sword.

Fifteen for a two-handed axe.

Something along those lines.

Submitting sixty for a two-handed axe meant…

Four times the normal amount.

“Sweet.”

“He must have agonized over it quite a bit,” Todd noted. “Looking at the log, he offered three times, changed it to three and a half, then bumped it up to four.”

The Giant Sand Worm was a monster from the 66th floor.

Its quality was already the finest among the bunch, and on top of that, it boasted the highest quantity.

There was no competition.

Sold!

Going once, going twice, sold!

Just to be sure, Hajun showed the offer to Rani.

“Rani likes this! Wanna make it!”

Great.

Commission accepted immediately.

Here you go, Rani, take the materials.

“Can I make it right now?!”

Handing the materials over made her eyes sparkle brightly.

Was she really that thrilled?

“Sure, of course you can.”

“Yay!”

“By the way, how long will it take?”

Materials from the 50s took about half a day.

If relic fragments were involved, a full week.

How about this time…?

“Hmm… To make it pretty, three days!”

Three days?

That was quite reasonable.

“Hehe! Rani’s off!”

At Hajun’s nod, she beamed with a giggling smile and darted straight for the training ground.

Now that Rani had started her work…

“All right, shall we climb the tower too?”

*

From that day on, tower-climbing mode resumed.

How so?

Wake up in the morning and assemble everyone.

“Rani’s gonna go craft!”

Right, off you go…

“Have a candy before you head in.”

“Thank you!”

Good old Rani.

Hand her a piece of candy, and she popped it into her mouth, trotted straight into the training ground, and began hammering away.

As for the rest?

[This is today’s morning news — ]

Watching television for a bit.

They weren’t picky about what they watched either.

Dramas, news broadcasts, documentaries, variety shows, movies…

Total omnivores when it came to media.

After whiling away some time like that…

“Shall we head up the tower soon?”

“Sounds grand!”

“I have been awaiting your word.”

At Hajun’s call, they assembled immediately.

What came next?

Climbing the tower, naturally.

To start, he divided the highest-grade laborers into two teams.

Arthur on one side, and Robin plus Yunchang on the other.

Arthur utilized both sword and shield, making his solo runs relatively stable.

“They say the difficulty spikes starting from Floor 61, so let’s stick to this plan until Floor 60.”

“Arthur, go Floor 61 too!”

“Nope. Safety first.”

Well, the laborers insisted they could handle floors above 61 alone, but why risk it?

There was no rush, so grouping up to ensure safety was the smarter path.

Even so, clearing a floor a day should be easily doable…

At any rate, sending them off yielded swift results.

[Successfully conquered Tower of Chaos Floor 51!]

[You have leveled up.]

[Clear Time — 00:41:58]

[New World Record Achieved!]

[Bonus Reward — Chaos Key Fragment]

“Arthur, is back!”

“Laborer Arthur, reports of his return!”

“Arthur, is back!”

That was Arthur’s record.

What about the other team?

[Successfully conquered Tower of Chaos Floor 52!]

[You have leveled up.]

[Clear Time — 00:21:37]

[New World Record Achieved!]

[Bonus Reward — Chaos Key Fragment]

Yeah…

Pure insanity.

Perhaps because two highest-grade laborers were paired up, they cleared the floor in the blink of an eye.

“Keep this up for just five days, and we’ll reach Floor 60.”

Tower conquest was turning out to be surprisingly easy.

*

“Today, Bokdeongi comes?”

“Yeah. Shouldn’t it be done soon?”

Three days had passed since crafting began.

The final day.

The other laborers had already cleared up to Tower of Chaos Floor 56.

Normally, they would be lounging in front of the TV right now…

Clang, bang!

“Bokdeongi, hammering is fun!”

Today, everyone was gathered around watching Rani work.

Why?

Because once she finished, they were all going to eat something delicious together.

“Rani’s all done!”

Awesome.

Finished at last.

The completed piece was a battleaxe taller than Rani herself.

Good grief.

Look at her wobbling under its weight.

“Did you pick a name for it?”

“Yup! Whoooosh!”

Hm…

Usually Hajun let things slide, but this time he couldn’t help being curious.

“Rani, why ‘Whoooosh’?”

“‘Cuz! You pick it up and go whoooosh! Whoooosh!”

Hm…

Okay then…

Beats me.

“Arthur, not know either…”

Right?

Well… if Rani said it was Whoooosh, Whoooosh it was.

Checking the item options—

[Whoooosh]

– A masterpiece crafted by an artisan who has attained the pinnacle of skill.

– Protects the wielder with the power of sand.

– Attacks have a fixed chance to trigger a shockwave that cleaves the earth.

– Powerful piercing force partially ignores enemy defense.

– Grants use of the special skill ‘Sandstorm.’

– Increases earth attribute resistance.

Oh.

Something had changed.

Until now, the first line of the options always read:

[A work crafted by an artisan of exceptional skill.]

Now?

[A masterpiece crafted by an artisan who has attained the pinnacle of skill.]

Wait, what?

Was she really about to advance in grade soon?

That piqued his curiosity.

After sending the finished weapon off to the waiting client, Hajun asked her about it.

“Mmm… Rani needs to make more things like Whoooosh! But! If Rani makes prettier things, Rani can get stronger real fast! To do that, need lots and lots of materials!”

Hm.

In that case, they were going to need quite a lot more.

Their client, Ralph, had supplied four times the requirement.

Hajun thought that would have been plenty…

Needing even more?

This wouldn’t do.

Time to accept another commission.

“How does that sound? Good?”

“Yup! But Rani wants to rest today! Tired…”

“Of course, naturally. You were working right up until a moment ago. Did you think I’d tell you to craft another right away?”

Rest up properly today.

Here.

Hajun unwrapped her favorite strawberry candy and popped it into her mouth.

“Todd, you heard her, right? Let’s take one more commission.”

“Heh. Excellent. It would be splendid if we could secure as many materials as possible.”

“Right? Should I post it right away?”

“Hmm… Please post it tomorrow instead.”

Tomorrow?

Why?

“Hehehe, come tomorrow, you will see exactly why.”

Was it just imagination, or was that sneaky laugh popping up rather frequently these days?

Still, whenever Todd chuckled like that, tangible results always followed.

Fair enough…

*

Ralph Carter, America’s number one hunter.

Ordinarily a busy person…

“When on earth is it going to be finished?”

At present, his eyes remained glued helplessly to AwakenedNet.

According to his research, that Manpower Office Director had once delivered a weapon in a single day…

So he had waited.

Helplessly, from the very first day until now.

“Why hasn’t there been any word?”

Chime!

[Your commissioned item has arrived.]

“Oh… at last!”

Claiming the delivery without delay, a two-handed battleaxe radiating sheer overwhelming presence appeared right before his eyes.

Whoa!

Now this was what he was talking about!

“As expected of the Manpower Office Director!”

Naturally, the name would sound magnificent too, right?

Lifting it with high expectations—

“Whoooosh?”

Wait, seriously?

Isn’t this a bit much?

How could the weapon’s name be Whoooosh?

Sure, he had a rough idea of what to expect.

He had seen the names of weapons wielded by Korean rankers.

Even taking that into account…

“After all the materials I handed over…”

The weapon itself, however, was beyond satisfying.

Reading through the options, the moment his fingers gripped the handle, a distinct sensation washed over him.

“Ah.”

So this was why the Korean rankers never complained about the names.

This thing was utterly insane.

Just holding it felt as though his level had spiked by at least ten or more.

“With this…”

Clearing the 67th floor, the insurmountable wall towering before him, would be effortless.

Perhaps even the floors beyond that?

“Now isn’t the time to dawdle.”

Others had been waiting on pins and needles too.

[Management Team Leader, Sam]

Namely, that contact.

Ring-ring-ring—!

— Hey, Ralph.

“It’s me. Just got the weapon.”

— Oh! How is it?! Is it good? You didn’t waste the materials, did you? Did it really arrive in one piece?

Man, what a chatterbox.

Always worrying about everything under the sun.

“Need I even say it? It’s downright broken. I’ll show you the options when we meet later. It’s legendary. If this were a retail item, I probably couldn’t buy it even if I sold everything to my name.”

— It’s that good…?

“Yeah. So good that despite the ridiculous name, I’m still thrilled.”

— What’s the name?

What else could it be?

Whoooosh…

Sigh.

They would find out eventually anyway, but he had no desire to say it aloud right now.

Instead, he got straight to the point.

“Tell everyone to get ready. I’m going to clear Floor 67 tomorrow without fail. Since this will be our last big bash, make sure the celebration is grand.”

Phew.

Ralph knew roughly what was coming.

Before long, his number one ranking would probably be overtaken.

The Manpower Office Director.

A monster who conquered China’s S-grade dungeon when everyone else gave up, saved India and Egypt, and even set a new tower world record just today.

On top of all that…

“He can even forge weapons like this…?”

Just what kind of person was he?

Seriously, the world was deeply unfair.

Faced with such reality, Ralph had no choice but to acknowledge it.

Eventually, he would be caught.

Probably before long.

All the same, the gate to Floor 70 would be opened by him.

By Ralph Carter.

*

Another post by the Manpower Office Director appeared on AwakenedNet.

[Taking crafting commissions.]

The conditions were similar to before.

With one single difference.

[This commission will be conducted via an open auction where all bids are completely public.]

– An open auction???

– Rankers will participate for sure… but maybe the competition won’t be that fierce?

└ Yeah, Ralph being dead silent feels super suspicious.

└ Agreed, that guy loves bragging, so if it turned out great, news would’ve exploded instantly lol

– Is the mind game starting already?

People tended to think alike.

Just as the chatter on AwakenedNet suggested, participation was sluggish in the early stages of the auction.

At most:

[Lucas Wolf (Germany)] — 21 items.

[Arthur Brandt (UK)] — 22 items.

Hunters merely tested the waters, inching their bids up little by little around the twofold mark.

– Knew it lolololol

– Seeing Ralph not even enter the bidding tells you everything, right?

– Still, got plenty out of Ralph, so isn’t it a win anyway?

– Ah, but if this auction had fierce bidding wars, the dopamine hit would’ve been wild.

– For real… ‘America in shock, Britain in turmoil’ or whatever headline…

– Well… they say Floor 50 materials and Floor 60 materials are totally different beasts after all…

Ralph wasn’t even participating.

That seemed to settle it.

A disappointing dud.

Just as everyone was arriving at that conclusion, breaking news erupted simultaneously across the globe.

[Ralph Carter Becomes the First to Clear Tower of Chaos Floor 67!]